[Faith leaders] call events like these ‘retreats’, when what we really mean is work... But movement away from something also means movement toward something else.” Rev. Hope Christensen, co-founder of Faith Leaders for Ending Gun Violence spoke these words in her opening intention for “Leading Faithfully in a Time of Division”, a virtual retreat hosted by the Miller Center for Intrerreligious Learning and Leadership of Hebrew College, in partnership with Interfaith America. This daylong event convened some of the Miller Center’s closest local and national partners, who shared their wisdom through presentations, public dialogues, guided meditations, musical offerings, and more. Discussion centered around the intersection of American civic life and religious pluralism, and how faith leaders can serve as healers and advocates of peace and justice as we move through this divisive election season and reckon with various global crises. 

Rev. Christensen’s intention was followed by a morning meditation led by Acharya Dr. Judith Simmer-Brown, founding faculty emeritx at Naropa University. Inspired by the 8th Century Buddhist Śāntideva, Dr. Simmer-Brown's guided participants through “a short practice of tuning into things we find that are conflictual and triggering, changing our attitude toward those things so we can approach them with a peaceful heart.” 

Rev. Chistensen and Dr. Simmer-Brown set the stage for a day of heartfelt and searching conversation about challenging concepts and societal conflicts...

Interested in learning about religion and the 2024 election season from a pluralistic perspective with the Miller Center? Enroll in "White Christian Nationalism & the Presidential Election", a three-week Hebrew College adult learning course taught by Rabbi Or Rose, Director of the Miller Center & Rev. Rob Schenck, visiting scholar of Christianity and Religious Leadership.

Thursdays, Sep 12, 19, 26, 7-8:30 p.m. on Zoom | Click here to register, details below!

Empathy Now: A Multifaith Conversation a dialogue between Miller Center Director Rabbi Or Rose and Dr. Celene Ibrahim, moderated by Rev. Parisa Parsa of the First Unitarian Society in Newton, was covered recently in Fig City News: 

"During the event, both speakers sat on stools facing the audience, taking great care to articulate their personal beliefs while unpacking particular buzzwords that surround the Israel-Palestine conflict. For a conversation on something as convoluted and heart-wrenching as this ongoing conflict, Rabbi Rose and Dr. Ibrahim were able to model a discussion based on respect and the desire to understand one another."

The event was the first in a three-part series this summer offered by the Newton Interfaith Clergy Association, the Miller Center, the Islamic Center of Boston (Wayland), and the City of Newton. Keep an eye out for news about parts two and three in the series!

We are proud to announce With the Best of Intentions: Interreligious Missteps and Mistakes, co-edited by Rabbi Or Rose (pictured above), Director of the Miller Center of Interreligious Learning and Leadership, won first place in the “Ecumenism or Interfaith Relations” category of the Catholic Media Association’s 2024 Book Awards.

The volume, published by Orbis Books, was edited collaboratively by Rabbi Rose, Dr. Lucinda Mosher (above right), director of the MA in interreligious studies program at Hartford International University, and Elinor (“Ellie”) Pierce (above center), director of research at Harvard University’s Pluralism Project. With the Best of Intentions documents stumbles and failures in interfaith encounters using a case study methodology developed by Pierce. Altogether, the book presents the dilemmas of over three dozen scholars and practitioners across several faiths and includes critical discussion of what went wrong, and why.

With the Best of Intentions is part of a series of interreligious resources Rabbi Rose and his colleagues have published over the years with Orbis, beginning with My Neighbor’s Faith in 2012. That first volume featured constructive and inspiring stories about the interreligious encounters of outstanding community leaders, scholars, public intellectuals, and activists.

Beacons of Hope: Our Interreligious S/Heroes

Each month, we honor an individual whose commitment aligns with the bridge-building efforts of the Miller Center. For August, we shine a light on artist, philosopher, and religion scholar Netanel Miles-Yépez, DD, current Pir of the Inayati-Maimuni lineage of Sufism, and chair of Religious Studies at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. 

Please share with us about your own spirituality, and how it informs your academic and interspiritual leadership.

I was born into a philosophically and spiritually open Mexican-American family, but my Anglo father became an Evangelical Christian when I was a child, and so we became Christian early on. I was actually on the brink of entering a Christian seminary at 17 or 18, when I learned, in rather dramatic fashion, that my Mexican family members were 'crypto-Jews,' those Jews who had been forced to convert during the Inquisition and had kept their Jewish identity secret ever since. This, as you might imagine, significantly altered the course of my interests and led me to study the History of Religions in college; I wanted to understand the complex ways in which religion can shape our lives. 

Netanel Miles-Yépez

But my longing to understand and connect to Judaism also remained strong, and eventually brought me to Boulder, Colorado, to study with Rabbi (or “Reb” -- a less formal title) Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z"l, the founder of the Jewish Renewal movement.

A Rabbi, an Islamic Scholar, and a rocket scientist enter a (virtual) room…

When Dr. Celene Ibrahim was invited to deliver a second talk to the Islamic Study Group of the Employee Welfare Association for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, she saw an opportunity for interreligious engagement. “When the leadership of Goddard’s Muslim affinity group reached out to me in the late fall of 2023 to request another lunch-and-learn program, I immediately thought of the idea of partnering with the Jewish affinity group on an offering.” She suggested Rabbi Or Rose, founding director of the Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and Leadership of Hebrew College.

This July, State of Formation, an offshoot of the Miller Center's academic periodical, the Journal of Interreligious Studies (JIRS), recently published two podcasts from the Miller Center's 2023-24 Building Interfaith Leadership Initiative (BILI) Launchpad Fellowship undergraduate fellows. 

Bili Fellow Grace Boyd and Dr. Robin Mitchell Stroud of the University of Southern California (USC) Office of Religious and Spiritual Life discuss cats, conflict transformation, and lessons learned from campus interfaith engagement. Robin and Grace explore the topic of interfaith engagement and religion through an insightful discussion based on what Grace has learned during their journey as a third-year B.A. student in Religion and as a campus interfaith community builder at USC. Read more

In the summer of 2023, Alina Wilson attended the Interfaith America Summit, despite feeling increasingly distant from institutionalized religion. Returning to a campus rife with politically charged religious divisions and struggling with the impact of religious harm on those closest to her, Alina couldn’t help but question the value of interfaith engagement. Months later, Alina reaches out to the Associate Deans at the Stanford University Office for Religious Life to understand the critical importance of interfaith work — and why it has meant so much to her. Read more

Taught by Rabbi Or Rose, Director of the Miller Center & Rev. Dr. Rob Schenck, visiting scholar of Christianity and Religious Leadership

What is the relationship between religion, race, and democracy within conservative Christian circles in the United States? What is the history of these ideologies and alliances? To what extent is white Christian nationalism a danger to our country—particularly in this election cycle? What role can members of different religious and cultural communities play in countering this form of bigotry and work with Christians to promote the rights and freedoms of all Americans?

The course will meet on Thursdays 7:00-8:30 p.m. Eastern on Zoom: September 12, 19, 26 

Learn more and register here

Taught by Rabbi Or Rose, Director of the Miller Center & Rev. Dr. Rob Schenck, visiting scholar of Christianity and Religious Leadership

The time has come for a new conversation among members of the Jewish and Evangelical communities to discuss our relationships to Israel? Turmoil in the Israel and the Palestinian territories, as well as in the United States call for an honest and searching discussion of our theological, historical, and political connections to Israel. What, for example, is the role of messianism or eschatology (interpretations of “end-times” prophecies) in this context? Do we share some common values and commitments? Where do we differ? To what extent are these differences present within each of our respective communities?

The course will meet on Thursdays 7:00-8:30 p.m. Eastern on Zoom: November 7, 14, 21 

Learn more and register here